Heretofore, brassieres used for nursing and maternity were usually constructed with hooks, snaps, or other fastening means in order to close the brassiere cup. Fastening means, in general, require the wearer to use two hands to fasten or unfasten the fastening means. This is a disadvantage to the wearer, since a woman who is nursing has only one hand which is normally free of her baby and often she does not have a convenient place to rest her baby. Furthermore, hooks, snaps, or other fastening means can easily snag other garments or become detached during laundering. Moreover, women in general are loathe to have any such fastening means whatsoever in the vicinity of their breasts for obvious reasons as they would be extremely discomforting, as well as disconcerting in terms of looks. However, in the case of maternity and nursing brassieres, heretofore women virtually had no choice except to remove their brassieres if they did not want to have to unhook or unsnap a breast cup. The following following publications and/or patents generally relate to brassieres of this type:
______________________________________ NAME DATE NUMBER ______________________________________ WITKOWER OCT. 9, 1945 U.S. Pat. No. 2,386,530 ALBERTS MAY 25, 1954 U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,048 CROXALL OCT. 21, 1958 U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,935 RAMSELL NOV. 5, 1968 U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,017 DERFRU APR. 22, 1969 U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,682 O'DELL MAR. 15, 1960 U.S. Pat. No. 2,928,396 BROWN AUG. 25, 1964 U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,714 FARINO JUN. 5, 1958 Australian 221,990 CHAUVIN MAR. 25, 1952 French 1,004,058 ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. No. 2,386,530 issued to Witkower on Oct. 9, 1945, discloses a nursing brassiere with "opening" breast pockets. The pockets are formed by an openable flap, which has a hook on its upper end. The hook engages an adjustable loop on a shoulder strap in order to close the pocket.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,048, issued on Alberts on May 25, 1954, shows a similar arrangement. An outer layer of fabric is provided with a hook at its upper end. The hook engages a complimentary element at the upper end of an inner layer of fabric or on the lower portion of the shoulder strap in order to close the cup. The inner layer of fabric has a substantially elliptical aperture so that the cup is, in fact, open when the hook is not engaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,935, issued to Croxall on Oct. 21, 1958, shows a maternity and nursing brassiere with adjustable and detachable cups. This is accomplished using a 3-point detachable suspension arrangement. Corresponding hook and eye members provide the means of detachment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,017, issued to Ramsell on Nov. 5, 1968, shows another similar brassiere with "opening" cups. The cups are secured into a closed position by engaging a cup loop on each flap with an associated buckle on a shoulder strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,682, issued to Defru on Apr. 22, 1969, shows a therapeutic brassiere in which the cups are not permanently attached or stitched at any point, but are completely removable. The cups are then attached to the body of the brassiere by means of Velcro strips.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,714, issued to Brown on Aug. 25, 1964 shows a brassiere formed with cups embodying a pair of segments overlapping at the inner edges of the segments, and yet free to move apart or together so as to cause the volume of the cups to vary and automatically adjust and confirm to the breasts of the wearer as required by the postures of the wearer. With such bra construction, no access is provided for the breasts.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,928,396 issued to O'Dell on Mar. 15, 1960 relates to a slip or other like garment, and a separate standard bra is worn beneath the slip like garment. This garment enables a nursing mother to expose her breast after her separate bra which supports the breasts is removed so that when an infant is presented to the breast through an opening provided by a breast covering flap folded back upon itself, the surrounding garment material of the center yoke and the flap conceal the mother's breast.
Australian Pat. No. 221,990 to Frank Farino deals with a dual purpose brassiere worn either as a maternity brassiere during pregnancy or worn without change as a conventional brassiere. The novelty of this bra is that during the stages of pregnancy it conforms itself to the changing contours of the breast areas while assuring comfort to the wearer under all conditions of use. This brassiere, however, is not a nursing bra.
The French patent to Chauvin concerns an unconventional type of brassiere for nursing mothers which is in the form of a flat type bra having no real discernable breast cup structures. Elastic or other stretchable material suitably forms overlying flaps, one of which is harnessed with the yoke strap so that it can be pulled down while the other flap is pushed upwardly to expose a breast to be nursed. Although this brassiere employs no snaps or other hooks to uncup a breast cup, both flaps must be moved oppositely to each other to reveal a breast; and the breasts cups do not have any defined shape as no cup seams are employed to fabricate the flaps.
Commonly-assigned co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 536,854 filed Sept. 28, 1983 discloses a brassiere having openable cups which do not require fastening means. The cups are each constructed with an upper cup portion and a "fold-over" portion. These portions are joined together along a seam which takes in material from both portions. This construction creates an overlapping of material which creates a "bulky" look. In addition, the "fold-over" cup portion is loosely held in place and thus, is easily pulled away from the body during normal wear which does not provide for sufficient support of the breasts. The construction of the present invention allows for a less bulky line which is aesthetically desirable. In addition, the cups do not pull away from the wearer's body due to normal wear and tension, which provides for better support of the breasts and increased comfort to its wearer.